‘The Lion King’ earned its Tonys and enduring popularity the old-fashioned way — through talent and creativity

It's been 12 years since Garth Fagan choreographed “The Lion King,” but he still tears up when he sees the opening number, “The Circle of Life.”

“I bawl every time I see it,” says Fagan. “It brings us back to our childhood. It brings us back to our fantasies.”

In “Circle of Life,” the dancers transform into lions, gazelles, zebras, hippos, elephants and cranes. At first astonished glance, as an African savanna comes to life onstage, you focus on the fantastical masks, puppets and headdresses created by Julie Taymor (who also directed) with Michael Curry.

Look more closely, however, and you notice how much dance contributes to the illusion. Fagan created a signature gait and style for each species, movements performed by cast members who have danced with major companies — for instance, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Dance Theatre of Harlem, the Cleveland Ballet, Complexions, and BJM Danse (Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal).

“Every animal has their own rhythm and movement, so you get a real sense of a safari of the pridelands,” says Fagan, whose choreography for “The Lion King” won the 1998 Tony and several other major awards.

The show also earned Tonys for best musical, best director of a musical and scenic, costume and lighting design. And the Broadway show, which is still running, has spawned productions in London, Hamburg, Tokyo, Paris and Las Vegas, as well as a touring production, opening tonight at the Civic Theatre under the auspices of Broadway San Diego.

The success of “The Lion King” doesn't surprise Fagan. “Everyone was at the top of their game,” he says. “And we were all feverish with excitement that we wanted this to be so different from anything Broadway had done before.

“When we did our first preview in Minneapolis in the summer of '97, and we heard that audience explode — that's the only word I can use, explode — after the first number, we knew we had something special.”

Certainly, Fagan was an ideal choice for a project that drew on South African movement as well as American contemporary dance, and required choreography whose shapes and rhythms could be “read” from the third balcony of a Broadway theater.

Born in Jamaica, he grew up amid Afro-Caribbean polyrhythms and started his career with the National Dance Theatre of Jamaica. His teachers included Pearl Primus, the dancer-anthrologist who incorporated African and Afro-Caribbean movements with modern dance.

Moving to the States, Fagan studied with modern dance giants Martha Graham, José Limón and Alvin Ailey. He founded Rochester, NY-based Garth Fagan Dance in 1970. Last month, the company launched its 39th season, premiering a new work with live music by the Ying Quartet.